Goodbye Mercury Retrograde, And Good Riddance!
According to Forbes, yes, Forbes, the planet Mercury, which has an 88 day orbit around the Sun -compared to the earth’s 365 day orbit – appears, during times when it laps the earth on its inside solar route, to stop moving in its east to west rotation and instead appears to rotate west to east. This is purely an optical illusion and can occur three or four times each year. This year it occurs on April 1st through 25th; August 5th through 28th; and November 25th through December 15th.
Thank you for that information, Jamie Carter, of Forbes.
The retrograde illusion appears because the earth is traveling faster on its orbit, so when it draws closer to the planet Mercury during their respective rotations it catches up, which makes Mercury appear to move backwards in its trajectory.
According to those more mystical, the planet Mercury rules over anything to do with information, communication, thought, electronics and travel. Given that retrograde actually means moving backwards, the common belief is that each of those areas takes a negative hit during these periods. It’s no wonder then that, during these times, we find emails going amiss, verbal misunderstandings occuring, flights or Ubers delayed and/or canceling and thoughts feeling a little more fuzzy than usual. And deals just don’t seem to close properly, if at all.
Well, speaking as a card carrying writer whose work traverses the sci-fi and fantasy worlds, I have to say I picked one hell of a celestial time to release my final book in The Claire Saga – Where The Ley Lines Meet – smack dab in the middle of 2024’s first Mercury retrograde.
Throw in the lunar and solar eclipses, the full Pink moon, palindromic portal dates and the Lyrid meteor shower, and two extreme if temporary physical setbacks, that all occured at around this time, and some might argue I was foolishly thumbing my nose at the literary gods.
But in my defense – and in this case my lawyer persona must represent my writer persona foolishly as my client – I can cite at least one of those literary gods, Alexander Pope, a leading neoclassical poet. In his work, An Essay on Criticism (1711), Pope may have given me the precedential out.
“For fools rush in where angels fear to tread.”
Now this line has been interpreted to warn against the impulsiveness of inexperienced individuals who boldly venture into situations the more wise would attend with caution.
Although I am wizened by age, when it comes to my writer’s life, I am both impulsive and inexperienced. Guilty as charged.
My counter-argument for such impetuous impulsiveness would be that given my age, I must throw caution to the wind, because any guarantees of my tomorrows are certainly challengeable. I must not only strike while the blacksmith’s iron is hot, but also while the tailor’s iron is still plugged in.
So, over the past four years I’ve boldly rushed to write and publish my five novel, epic work, The Claire Saga. A work whose perfection is proudly established by its imperfections.
And when it is all said and done, as imperfect as it may be in the telling, the story about the magical Claire the Mule and her motley crew of mystical misfits holds up. Because it’s a story about family, the one you are born with and the other combinations that arrive, often damaged, out of a common cosmic need. It’s about loyalty, diversity, adventure, and the paranormal, with ghosts, witches, muses, extraterrestrials, the fae and all forms of canines. It’s about laughter and tears. Life and death. And finally, and most importantly, it is about love, which has no boundaries, among any creatures, on this energy plane or the next.
And given the world we live in, who doesn’t want to escape into that alternate reality?
So, in light of this newby writer’s consistent impulsiveness, why wouldn’t I go against my celticaly superstitious nature, play the fool and rush in and release the final(?) book in The Claire Saga in the midst of this celestial, astrological maelstrom?
After all, most of the other superstitious writers were probably scared off. Great way to improve my relative odds for success.
And, when it is all said and done, I believe in this story to such a level that I again invoke Alexander Pope to portend how this foolish writer’s work, whenever it may be released, may be perceived and measured.
Great Wits sometimes may gloriously offend,
And rise to Faults true Criticks dare not mend;
From vulgar Bounds with brave Disorder part,
And snatch a Grace beyond the Reach of Art,
Which, without passing thro’ the Judgment, gains
The Heart, and all its End at once attains.
(EC, 152–7)
So, with that little gobbet, I say goodbye to this most recent Mercury Retrograde, and look forward to Where The Ley Lines Meet smoothly sailing forth past any and all criticisms and capturing the hearts of you, my fine, five readers, and all that may entail.
And just to draw a line under it all, today is magical Friday.
So, you fine, five readers have that final cuppa and sail through this work day discussing the winners and losers in last night’s NFL draft, and anything else that makes the hours pass quickly towards your weekend.
I’m going to go cuddle some kitties and make my rounds.
Probably light an intention candle to push the boat out.
But no matter what else we get up to today, let us make it a great one.
One Response
Love you Tom